serenade
by des monstres
Summary: a collection of drabbles revolving around sasuke and sakura with a touch of musical inspiration. ratings may vary.
1. summer love

_summer love._  
des monstres.

disclaimer: Yeah, let's not even go there.

_This just can't be _summer love.

Ino practically _flew_ into the supermarket while Sakura trudged along behind her, muttering about crazy blondes and unfinished homework.

"_Hello, shoppers. The store will close in twenty minutes at ten pm. Please hurry to the cash registers to make your final purchases. Thank you for choosing Stop&Shop."_

Sakura turned her head to look for Ino but only found lone shoppers picking things off shelves and reading their labels. She sighed and opened her EnV2.

_Ino, I have no idea where the hell you went. I'll wait for you outside._

The teen stepped out of the fluorescent building and went over to the side. It was a cool summer evening, and her fleece hoodie kept her comfortable. Her feet rocked back and forth while her hands were shoved into her sweater pockets.

She, then, heard a breath of air into the night and turned her head to see someone not too far away donned in a Stop&Shop apron leaning against the brick wall. She was surprised that she hadn't noticed him before. He seemed her age with deep black hair, and he held a cancer stick between his fingers. With unexpected grace, he lifted the cigarette, placed it delicately between his lips, and took a deep breath. Sakura watched the white smoke leave his slightly open mouth in an almost entrancing way. She couldn't help but find his carcinogenic habit strangely attractive.

"Do you need something?"

The pink-head looked up to meet the gaze of the dark-eyed stranger.

"Oh, um, no," she flushed, having been caught staring, "you just looked familiar."

"Well, that's interesting," he replied and took another puff of his cigarette. "I don't recognize you from anywhere, which is surprising because your chemical-drenched hair doesn't seem to know the meaning of subtlety."

"FYI, my hair is _au naturel_."

He chuckled. "Of course . . . _pinky_."

"It is!" she scowled at the nickname.

Sakura, then, suddenly realized that she was getting all riled up because of a complete stranger and thus proceeded to shut herself up. Turning away, she leaned back against the wall in the same manner as the Stop&Shop employee with her arms folded in front of her. The man's rhythmic inhales and exhales of the tobacco and the warm breeze were enough to make her want to sleep.

"So what are you doing here?" he asked.

She blinked herself awake.

"My friend ran out of chocolate, so I was to be her escort."

"A princess?"

"Just a conniving witch in disguise."

"Aa . . ." he smiled. "I see."

Sakura grinned. She kind of liked this guy. Maybe they could be friends. Suddenly, she heard the automatic sliding doors open.

"Sakura, there you are!" Ino shouted. "Let's go!"

"I'll be right there, Ino!" she yelled back.

The pinkette turned to her new stranger friend.

"I have to go. Maybe I'll see you around?"

He dropped the white stick on the ground and put it out with the tip of his shoe. He then leaned forward and gently blew the cancerous smoke into her face before pulling back, a tiny smirk on his face.

"Maybe."

* * *

I'm planning on making this a two-part drabble . . . unless you don't want me to.


	2. summer love 2

_summer love._  
des monstres.

disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Itachi would still be alive and kicking ass like he should be.

Summer_ was painted on our skin  
And those secrets hidden in our childish lips._

Summer had gone faster than Sakura had expected it to. She had aced the summer program she had been enrolled in, no thanks to any of Ino's frequent late night Stop&Shop escapades. Now she was back in school, and it was the first day of classes.

And she was running late.

The pinkhead glanced at the screen of her phone. "Shit!" She had two minutes left to get to class. If she had known that her first class was on the opposite side of campus, she would've woken up earlier. Her mind screamed to run faster while her legs screamed for her to slow down.

Her worn black Converse squealed as she skidded on the tiled hallways. She maneuvered her way around students and teachers. She then tripped on air and was sent soaring.

Which resulted in her smacking into someone.

"Shit!" she swore for the second time that morning. As she gathered her fallen papers and books, she repeatedly apologized, "I'm _so_ sorry. So, so, _so_ sorry."

"Pinky?"

Sakura's head jerked up at the familiar nickname. The tall man before her had messy yet clean black hair and deep, dark eyes. She slowly rose.

"Aren't you the guy from Stop&Shop?" she inquired.

He chuckled. "Aren't you the girl who kills her hair with chemical products?"

She furrowed her brows. "I _told_ you already! It's natural!" She then shook her head. "Forget it, you go to this school?"

He smirked and nodded. "Where are you headed?"

"Psych 200 with Kakashi."

"Aa, same here."

"Well, we should start walking."

"You know, I never got your name."

"My name's Sakura. You?"

"Sasuke."

And so was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

"By the way, you don't tan very easily, do you?"

* * *

Er . . . not my best work. I just had to update and get the idea out there since it's been over a month since I started this collection of sorts. I'll try to update more often now, since I have the time. But please don't expect too much since the writing comes with the inspiration. But I'll do my best!

And for previous readers, I fixed up the first part a bit so refer back to it if you want to.

So this is the conclusion to _summer love_. I hope you enjoyed it!

Review por favor!


	3. sandcastles

_sandcastles._  
des monstres.

disclaimer: Sadly, no.

_I've got to get back home_  
'_Cause _I'm in **love**.

A little girl with a tuft of cotton-candy-colored hair was standing atop white sands. In her tiny fist was the handle of a fire-engine-red wagon which was filled with colorful shovels and buckets and molds. Her face was marked with a look of determination. Suddenly, she proudly declared to the seagulls walking on the beach,

"Today, I will build the biggest sandcastle in the world!"

Then, she turned to the blue, blue ocean and angrily pointed in its general direction.

"And you!" she referred to the water, "You will not wash it away!"

With a huff, she spun around in her skirted swimsuit and walked back up the beach. She laid out her building tools and picked out the biggest bucket she had. She then proceeded to run to the shore as quickly as her tiny legs could carry her and filled the bucket up to the brim. Bucket in hand, she ran back to her spot on the small hill and proceeded to wet the sand.

The salty water transformed the once white sand to a dark grey with which the young girl packed into the biggest castle mold she had in her stash. When the plastic mold was crammed with enough sand, she flipped it over into its upright position and let it sit for a moment. She tapped the sides and top with her small yet strong hands, muttered a made-up magic word, and with an enthusiastic "ta-da!" she revealed her perfectly made sandcastle to the world.

Grinning from ear to ear, she proceeded to fill up another sandcastle mold. But as she was about to peel off the mold of her second castle, a tiny yet rather haughty voice interrupted her.

"What are you doing?"

The pink-haired child looked up at the intruder with a large smile on her face.

"I'm making a sandcastle!"

The new boy stared blankly with his black, black eyes.

"That's stupid."

The girl's sea foam green eyes grew wide with horror.

"It is _not_ stupid!" she cried indignantly. "Sandcastles are the best!"

"No, they're not," the boy was quick to retort. "Tomatoes are the best."

"_What_! Sandcastles and tomatoes aren't even in the same category!"

"When you talk about what is 'best,' you're including everything."

The girl simply gave him an odd stare.

"You're _weird_," she said.

The young boy shot a glare that shouldn't belong on a kid his age.

"No, I'm not. You just lack the intelligence to comprehend what I'm saying."

She kept looking at him funny before deciding, "You don't know how to have fun."

"Of course I know how to have fun!" he said furiously.

"Fine then," she replied. "Prove it. If you know how to have fun, build a sandcastle that's bigger and better than mine."

"Building sandcastles are a waste of time. I won't do it," the angry boy said in response.

She scoffed and muttered under her breath, "Scaredy cat."

He bristled at her remark. "Fine! I accept your challenge, and I _will_ beat you!"

"You better keep to your word!" the girl shouted with a triumphant grin.

The two went down on their knees and began their projects. As the sun moved across the sky, the sandcastles grew and grew. The two children were dedicated to their tasks and building with gusto. Once in a while, they would rush to the ocean to refill their buckets with water. Some time passed, and the two eventually declared the end of their match. They each evaluated the other's sandcastle and even asked some passing children and adults which one they thought was better.

In the end, the winner was the boy.

"You might've won this time, but I'll _definitely _beat you!" the pinkette declared.

"You wish," the other taunted. "You'll never beat me at anything. No one ever has."

"Then, I'll be the first!"

"I'll hold you to that. How about another match tomorrow?"

"Yeah! How about a swimming contest?"

"It doesn't matter. I'll still beat you."

"Don't worry, I'll take you down! You'll see! Tomorrow I—"

"Sakura-chan! It's time to go home!"

The green-eyed girl jumped at the sound of her mother's voice.

"It looks like I have to go home now," she said, looking a little solemn.

"Sasu-chan, we're leaving now!"

She giggled as the boy turned a bright shade of red.

"You have a cute name, _Sasu-chan_," she said with a laugh.

"My name's _Sasuke_," he replied, a bit annoyed.

She continued to laugh.

"Sure, _Sasu-chan_. I'll see you tomorrow."

"It's _Sasuke_!"

"Whatever!"

With a happy laugh, the little girl left with her now-sandy wagon and ran to her mother to go home.

"Kaa-san, guess what! I made a new friend!"

* * *

I love the image of a pouty baby Sasuke.

Review please!


	4. never

_never._  
des monstres.

disclaimer: Not yet . . . and not ever. Sad. ):

_You know that type of shit just don't work on me  
Whistlin' and tryin' to flirt with me  
Don't take it personally_  
'_Cause we were never in love_

_It doesn't really matter who you say you are  
Singing out the window of your car  
Find another girl across the bar_  
'_Cause L-O-V-E's not what this was_

_I think I should know how to make love to something innocent  
Without leaving my fingerprints out_

_Now L-O-V-E's just another word I never learned to pronounce  
How do I say I'm sorry 'cause the word is never gonna come out  
Now L-O-V-E's just another world I never learned to pronounce_

Sakura was shimmying her jeans back on and pulling her ribbed white tank over her head. She turned to the large leather hobo that had been carelessly thrown to the floor a couple hours ago and shrugged it onto her shoulder. Sasuke was carefully watching her from his seat on his bed silently and with no intention of leaving the comfortable confines of his pillows and sheets. She, then, took a small mirror out of her bag and ruffled her hair with her hand to fix it up a bit before closing it and throwing it back into the abyss of her bag while making her way out the bedroom door.

"You're leaving."

The kunoichi stopped and looked back over her shoulder.

"I need to take a shower before attending a meeting with the Hokage. Plus, I'm in civilian clothing."

She knew that wasn't the answer he was looking for, but what he wanted no longer mattered to her. She had stopped caring long before this whole agreement began.

"You're leaving," he repeated as if he hadn't heard her, " . . . again."

Her body fully turned around to make looking at him easier. Sasuke was met with a blank, slightly confused stare. She didn't get it. He never spoke to her. Especially when it didn't deal with shinobi business. _Especially_ right after they'd just had sex.

"I always leave," she replied with slight caution.

When he still hadn't said anything after a minute of tense silence, she took it as her cue to leave and turned back around.

"Stay."

She froze.

That one word, that one request, was breaking their agreement. They were never alone together unless it was for sex. Emotional attachment was unacceptable and not to be tolerated (a part of the agreement he thought she would fail to keep, but much to his surprise, had not been broken). Candlelit dinners and walks in the park or any romantic action of the sort were out of the question.

Whenever they wanted to have sex, she would go over his place (she always went over to his since she was sharing an apartment with Ino, whereas he lived alone in his gargantuan mansion) and leave right after. There was no cuddling or morning-after or breakfast together. She was to never stay after their needs were satiated.

And he was _breaking_ the rules by saying that one-syllable, seemingly insignificant verb.

What the _hell_ was he thinking?

"What are you trying to do, asking me to '_stay_' of all things?" she said with a bite to her words.

He kept his gaze steady against her challenging, smoldering eyes.

"Exactly what it means. Stay," he said easily.

"You realize you're breaking the rules to our agreement by doing so? The rules that _you_ came up with and approached me with," she said.

"I know."

They stared at each other for a long time.

"Why?" she eventually asked. "What's the point if I stay? There's no benefit to either of us. What are you trying to get out of this?"

He narrowed his eyes at her in annoyance.

"Will you stop examining one word I said as if there's some hidden meaning, some secret intention behind me doing so? It was a harmless inquiry."

"I can't help but question your motives, Sasuke. In my experiences with you, you've been anything but trustworthy."

If he had been anyone else, he would've flinched at her accusations, but he remained a calm exterior.

"This isn't a difficult concept to grasp, Sakura. Will you stay or not?"

Sakura watched his face with calculating eyes before making her way over to him. She crouched down to his eye level at the edge of his bed and smiled. There was humor in her grin but nothing malicious. He could've sworn that he saw a flash of sadness cross her eyes, but without his Sharingan, he couldn't be absolutely sure. She held one side of his face as she held his gaze and leaned in to kiss him. His heart lifted. _She was going to stay_.

And then,

"No, thanks," she rejected unexpectedly as she pulled away.

He blinked.

"Consider this an end to our contract."

With one last look over her shoulder, she encouraged, "Don't take it personally. It's not like I'm really leaving you since we weren't together to begin with."

She beamed one last smile.

"'Cause we were never in love."

* * *

I forgot I had this. Hope you enjoyed it. Your reviews make my heart swell. (:


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